The Nationals did little to hide how much Aroldis Chapman was their No. 1 target this trade deadline. Their skipper, Dusty Baker, who managed the lefty in Cincinnati, expressed his disappointment on the record when the Yankees dealt Chapman to the Cubs.

That shifted the balance of power in the NL further away from the Nationals toward the Cubs and intensified Washington’s need to find an alternative.

Mark Melancon is not Chapman. But he has been an excellent closer, having generated the majors’ most saves (114) since 2014. On Saturday, the Nationals obtained him from the Pirates for lefty reliever Felipe Rivero and Single-A southpaw Taylor Hearn.

The Nationals had been adamant they were not dealing Joe Ross, Trea Turner, Victor Robles, Reynaldo Lopez or Lucas Giolito to obtain Chapman, Andrew Miller or any closer, despite their desperate need. And they did avoid that.

Teams such as the Indians, Dodgers and Rangers could still play for Miller. But the Nats were seen as the most viable player — another sign that Miller is going to stay a Yankee.

Washington was looking to upgrade, feeling it could not win a title with Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth. Papelbon is a flammable personality, but Nationals GM Mike Rizzo and Baker both said Papelbon was fine with the trade, though — like Melancon — he is a free agent after the season and is now losing his closer job.

The Pirates will now close with Tony Watson, add Rivero to the back end and try to capitalize on a soft schedule remaining to win a fourth straight wild card, even without Melancon.

Ethier absence has Dodgers in a bind

EthierAP

Since Clayton Kershaw (back) went down, the Dodgers have only intensified their search for rotation help.

Because of Kershaw’s stature and importance to the team, it is easy to forget an injury to Andre Ethier also is impacting the club. Ethier incurred a spiral fracture in his lower left leg in spring training and was expected to return around the All-Star break. But the injury was more severe than initially diagnosed.

He recently began hitting live on the field and feels good, but essentially needs some form of spring training if it turns out he is fully healed, which means he wouldn’t be available until September. Ethier, in particular, mashed righties last year (.900 OPS) and his absence has been a problem as lefty-swinging Carl Crawford had to be released and Yasiel Puig simply never has matched the excellence from his early Dodgers days.

That is why the Dodgers have been pursuing such lefty-hitting outfielders as Cincinnati’s Jay Bruce and Oakland’s Josh Reddick — in addition to trying to upgrade the rotation.